


Cold Hands

by Deadlihood



Series: Incubus [1]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe- Incubus, Fantasy, Fluff, I dont know how to tag things, M/M, Smut, light shades of non-con?, like there's a fuck ton of smut okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 22:07:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9404927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deadlihood/pseuds/Deadlihood
Summary: in·cu·bus ˈiNGkyəbəs/noun: a male demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women. archaic:a nightmare





	

Taekwoon fiddled with the lemon slice hung on the edge of his glass idly, wishing Hongbin had been able to come to the club that night. He didn’t mind coming out to see Jaehwan sing, but he didn’t like sitting alone. He felt like he was under a spotlight, every group in the room staring at him and judging him for being alone. Shyness could be crippling.

He took another sip of the lemon drop, willing the vodka to kick in so he could relax a little. The watch’s hands seemed to be mocking him, ticking extra slow to torment him. Still, only a little while until Jaehwan went on. He could stand to wait for Jaehwan’s performance. After all, how many of his concerts had Jaehwan attended, even before he managed to start making money from it?

The time ticked by and Taekwoon slowly drained the glass. He was licking the lemon tinged sugar off the glass rim when the lights began to dim. Jaehwan had always been beautiful, but someone must have done his makeup for the night, because his eyes looked huge and dark, and his plush lips were pinker than usual.

He stepped up to the microphone and began to sing, a low croon that made Taekwoon smile. Jaehwan had been gifted, no doubt. The whole room had turned to focus their attention on him, all conversation silenced to let his voice in.

The performance was shorter than Taekwoon had expected, or maybe he was just so caught up in his voice it seemed that way. Regardless, he abandoned his table and empty glass to slip towards the back of the club. The security guard knew him, recognized him from when he used to play there, and let him go into the back easily.

Jaehwan was wiping his face with a towel, streaks of makeup left behind on the white terrycloth. He made a face and had just gotten up to throw it in the hamper when he noticed Taekwoon standing in the doorway. “Hey. How’d you like the performance?” He asked, discarding the dirty towel.

“Do you even really need me to tell you?” Taekwoon raised an eyebrow.

“Stroke my ego a little bit.”

“Okay. It was amazing, your voice has never sounded better, and I was so engrossed in it that it seemed to fly by.” Jaehwan grinned, even as he punched Taekwoon in the shoulder to get that mocking smile off his face.

“See, was that so hard?”

“It damn near melted my teeth out of my head.” Taekwoon laughed and hugged his friend. “You know I’ve always loved your voice, Jae.”

“I know. Come on, I need a drink.” He finished cleaning up the makeup smeared around his eyes and they went back out to the bar. Taekwoon ordered another lemon drop and bought Jaehwan the glass of wine he wanted. As they waited against the bar, someone jostled into Taekwoon.

“My apologies.” A deep voice said, making the hairs on the back of Taekwoon’s neck rise. He turned and felt his face go slack.

His hair was white and spiky, tufts of it pointing in all different directions. They couldn’t have been more differently dressed. Taekwoon had chosen all black; the stranger was wearing a black button down and a pink and teal paisley suit, cut close to his body. It somehow didn’t look ridiculous or flashy on him. He commanded attention no matter what. And his eyes seemed to bore right into Taekwoon’s brain.

“It’s fine.” Taekwoon said robotically, his lips moving of their own accord. The stranger smiled, a strange little half-smile that did little to comfort or appease, and walked away. When Taekwoon turned back around, Jaehwan was staring at him with a look of disbelief on his face. “What?”

“You look like your nose is about to start bleeding any minute.” Jaehwan muttered, accepting his glass of wine from the bartender.

“I just don’t like being touched by strangers, that’s all.” Taekwoon knew he sounded defensive and took a long sip of the lemon drop.

“Okay, whatever you say.” They returned to comfortable conversation, cut off occasionally by people coming up to compliment Jaehwan on his performance. Someone was standing between the two of them, gushing over Jaehwan’s voice when Taekwoon felt a sharp sting at the back of his neck.

“Ouch!” He slapped his hand over it. When he drew his hand back, there was the tiniest spot of blood on his fingers.

“Are you okay?” Jaehwan asked, leaning around the person.

“I think I just got bitten by something, that’s all.” Taekwoon picked up a cocktail napkin and dabbed at his neck. He quickly forgot about it when Jaehwan turned his attention back to him. They finished their drinks, checked the time, and decided to call it a night. Both of them had driven to the club but Jaehwan was less likely to get slapped with a DUI if he drove. Taekwoon told the bartender he was leaving his car there overnight and followed Jaehwan out into the parking lot.

Taekwoon’s house was far out of Jaehwan’s way. Jaehwan lived in a fashionable area of town, in the midst of the restaurants and boutiques. Taekwoon preferred the old house he’d inherited from his uncle, out on the cliffs. It was quiet, secluded. No one cared if he was banging on the piano until three o’clock in the morning, because his only neighbors were the seagulls and the waves.

“I can come pick you up in the morning to get your car if you want.” Jaehwan offered when they pulled up to his house.

“I can take a cab, it’s fine. Get some sleep, Sinatra.” Taekwoon got out of the car and fumbled his keys out of his pocket. He had just unlocked the heavy front door when Jaehwan finished the elaborate three point turn it took to get back on the road.

The house was dark and quiet, just the way Taekwoon liked it when he came home like this. There was enough moonlight coming through the windows that he could see fairly clearly as he got ready for bed. With the alcohol in his system and the long day he’d had, he fell asleep easily.

It was somewhere in the haze between sleep and waking that he felt it. It was something like a cat settling on his chest, if the cat weighed as much as a tiger. He stirred, but the weight didn’t move. Waking up felt like struggling upwards from the bottom of the sea, fighting desperately against the water to reach the surface. And when he did, his vision was hazy and unclear.

There was a soft chuckle from somewhere to his left, but he couldn’t move his head. “Pretty boy,” a voice crooned, cold fingers tracing over his cheek. “What fun we’re going to have, my pretty boy.” There was a smell like vanilla smoke and dying flowers. He felt the press of warm lips against his own, and then the weight on his chest was gone.

He sat up straight, his eyes clearing, searching for any sign of another person. But there was nothing. His bedroom door was still shut, all the windows locked. He sniffed his clothes to see if that strange scent had lingered, but it hadn’t.

“Just a dream,” Taekwoon mumbled to himself, and lay back down. He dismissed it as some odd dream mixed with sleep paralysis, tightened the covers around himself, and went back to sleep.

The next day he took a cab to the club and picked up his car. He had a few errands to run, groceries to pick up, and then he had a day of composing waiting for him. He was expected to release another album within the next year and he had a habit of scrapping songs if they didn’t match perfectly with what he heard in his head.

When he sat down at his piano, a beautiful antique birdcage piano, time seemed to cease to exist. He could get lost between the white notes and the black, the vibrations beneath his fingers and the sound wrapping around his heart. It could be too much to bear and not enough all at the same time.

He forced himself to stop in the evening, if only to eat something. While he waited for his food to heat up, he looked over the scribbled sheets of music, wondering if any of it was worth a damn. Jaehwan was never a good judge; neither was Hongbin. Both of them were too soft on him, too gentle to say that the music wasn’t up to his usual standards.

He returned to the piano after dinner, reworking a sheet he’d written earlier that day to make it sound better to him. Around eleven the notes started to sound discordant, clashing and clanging like old church bells. Jaehwan called it piano coma. At a certain point he was too tired to continue. He stuffed the sheets of music into the small box he kept by his piano for review in the morning with fresh hands and fresh ears.

It was warm that evening, so he cracked the window a little to let the breeze in, and went to bed in only a pair of soft pants. He settled under the soft blankets, head resting on the pillow heavily. His breaths began to slow, his mind started to clear, and sleep seemed to be just at his fingertips.

And then the weight was back. But this time, his eyes were open, and he could see what it was that was perched on top of him. He let out a strangled yelp when he saw the man from the club straddling his chest. His eyes seemed to glow in the light, reflecting green back like a cat’s. He was smiling, head cocked to one side.

“Hello, my pretty boy.” He said. Taekwoon tried to shove him off but it was like shoving at a concrete wall. “Now is that any way to act?”

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” No matter how Taekwoon struggled, he couldn’t get free.

“Oh, my sweet, beautiful boy.” The man grinned, all white teeth that seemed too sharp to be real. “You’ll learn eventually.” Then he held his hand up to his mouth and sank those sharp, white teeth into the meaty part of his palm between his thumb and pointer finger. The blood flowed freely. With one hand, he caught Taekwoon’s chin and forced his mouth open, dripping the blood in. He tried to spit it back but the man made sure it slid down his throat.

“What are you doing to me?” Taekwoon watched in horror as the man licked his bleeding wounds and the skin knitted itself back together, leaving his hand as unblemished as before.

“Blood to blood, beautiful.” Another predatory grin. “Sleep tight, darling.” Before Taekwoon’s eyes, he vanished.

His first thought was to call the police; he scrapped that idea, and called Jaehwan instead.

“Taekwoon?” His name was garbled by a yawn. “What are you doing up?”

“I just-” He choked on the words, physically choked on them. “I-”

“Taekwoon, are you all right?”

“No, I’m not!” He was quickly growing more distressed. “Jaehwan, someone-” The words died in his throat.

“Have you been drinking?”

“No. I can’t fucking talk, I can’t get it out.”

“I think you just had a nightmare. I’ll call in the morning, okay? We can talk about it then.” Jaehwan’s voice was gentle, soothing. Taekwoon didn’t feel soothed at all.

“Yeah, sure.” He hung up and went into his bathroom, jamming two fingers down his throat to see if he could get himself to vomit up whatever it was the man had dripped in his mouth. He dry-heaved quite a bit but nothing came up. Finally he gave up, slumping against the cold wall. His throat burned, his stomach hurt, and something had been in his room. Not a person, a thing. His heart was cold with fear. He had ingested the blood of some creature that wanted some unknown thing from him.

Taekwoon was awake all night. Jaehwan called in the morning to check on him. Taekwoon ignored it in favor of sitting outside with his coffee, trying to soak up sunshine. If this thing was a creature of the night, the daylight had to be good for him. And he wasn’t frying or anything, so he ruled vampire out.

He nearly laughed himself hysterical at the thought. Why was he even considering this, trying to figure out what mythical creature was visiting him at night? It was probably a nightmare.

But he could remember the taste of the blood in his mouth. Iron and copper and something thick and cloying. _Something_ had come to him. He just had to figure out what it was.  

\--

Taekwoon didn’t bother to close his eyes or change his clothes that night. He sat up in bed, watching the shadows shifting in the moonlight, and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. The shadows coagulated, forming a cloud that gave off the smell of decaying flowers and vanilla smoke. And then there was the form of the man, the creature, whatever he was, standing at the foot of Taekwoon’s bed.

“Hello, pretty boy.” The creature swung itself over his footboard, sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the bed in a mirror of Taekwoon.

“What are you?” Taekwoon asked, his jaw set.

The creature lounged back against the footboard, looking bored. “Always the first question. Haven’t you guessed yet?”

“No, clearly not. Now answer my question.”

The creature reached forward and grabbed Taekwoon’s bare ankle, gripping it so tight Taekwoon was sure it would bruise. Even as he tried to pull his leg free, a pulse of something ran up his leg and settled in a tight, hot knot in his stomach. He moaned without wanting to, fingers clutching at the sheets.

The creature released him, leaning back with a self-satisfied smirk. Taekwoon tried to calm his breathing, uncurling his fingers from the bed. And he tried to ignore the hot spike of lust still burning in him.

“Any guesses now?” The creature watched Taekwoon trying to calm himself. “No? I suppose I should tell you then. I am an incubus.”

The word rang a bell distantly in the back of his head. Then it came to him, from that one semester he and Jaehwan had been on a mythology kick. Demons of lust who came in the night to seduce humans and steal their souls.

“Shouldn’t you be a woman?”

The incubus laughed. “Traditionally, I suppose yes. But when you’ve been alive as long as I have, it starts to matter less and less.”

“And just how old are you?”

He seemed to be deep in thought. “At least three thousand years old, I believe.” Taekwoon made a strangled noise of surprise, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Time passes differently, depending on where you are. But yes, three thousand seems about right.”

“Do you have a name?”

“Ravi.” The incubus tilted his head to one side. “And what about you, pretty boy? What’s your name?”

“Shouldn’t you know that?”

“If I rifled through your documents, probably. But that seems like an invasion of privacy.” Taekwoon bit back a comment about the invasion of his bed.

“Taekwoon.” He said finally.

“Doesn’t suit you.” The incubus tilted his head slightly, considering him. “You look like a Leo. Like a proud lion.”

“Not exactly buttering me up.”

“I don’t need to butter you up.” The incubus was suddenly crouched over him, his eyes pinning him into place. “I could take you now if I wanted. And you would beg for every minute of it.” He leaned closer, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. “I could smell you for miles, all this repressed sexuality just waiting to burn.” He opened his eyes, the green reflection startling Taekwoon once again. “But it’s not fun to just take. I want you to want it. When I finally get a taste, it will be because you have given it to me.”

“Why would I want you to take my soul?”

“Is that what you think I’m here for?” Ravi laughed, settling back on the opposite end of the bed. “Archaic myth, pretty boy. We don’t eat souls; we don’t want anything but unbridled sexual energy. It’s one of the most powerful sources of energy on the planet. We can take it, draw it to the surface like I did earlier. But three millennia of taking can grow boring. I can wait for you to give it.”

“I’m not going to give it to you.”

“Why? Why deny yourself the pleasure of it?” He examined Taekwoon again. “The way you smell, it’s like you’re untouched.”

“I’m not a virgin.” Taekwoon couldn’t believe how defensive he was being about it, to a demon of lust no less.

“Then it must have been a very long time for you indeed. So why not take advantage of a willing partner?”

Taekwoon stared at him blankly. “You _bled_ into my mouth.”

“Blood for blood, darling. I took a taste of yours so I could always find you. You took a taste of my blood so you could never speak of me.”

“The cut on my neck.” And that explained why he couldn’t talk about what had happened with Jaehwan. He was physically prevented from it.

“Exactly. Couldn’t let you get too far away from me without marking you. And what would be the fun of you gossiping about me?”

“Not like anyone would believe me anyway.” Taekwoon raked his hand through his hair, trying to digest all the information he’d been given. “Wait a minute, what makes you think I would sleep with a man anyway?”

“I can smell you, darling. I can smell your wants and needs and desires. I taste it on my tongue like honey. You don’t want anything more than you want to get fucked.” The incubus rose up on his knees, staring Taekwoon down. “And I can give you anything you’ve ever wanted and more.”

“No.” Taekwoon shook his head. “No. I’m not going to, so you can just go away now.” He waved his hand, as if he could wave Ravi away as easily.

“Oh darling. I’m in your blood now. I’ll be sticking around.” He blew a kiss and disappeared into the shadows.

Taekwoon couldn’t sleep. But if what Ravi was saying was true, he wasn’t in danger of waking up to the incubus using him. The question was, did he really trust a three thousand year old incubus?

In the end he gave up and took a sleeping pill. If he didn’t sleep he wouldn’t be able to work, and his work was more important to him than his apparent demon problem.

So he settled under his covers, sure he was alone, and let the drugs work on his system.

_Taekwoon moaned, burying his face in his arms. He wanted so desperately to close his legs, to get away from the intense stimulation, but his ankles had been lashed to either side of his footboard. So he had to just hold on as the fingers inside him worked in all the ways that made him unravel, until he was practically sobbing. The thick blindfold around his face was quickly getting soaked._

_“Please, please,” he begged, back arching up as the fingers punched into his prostate again. “I can’t take anymore, please.”_

_He felt a soft, warm mouth press a kiss to the back of his thigh, and the fingers withdrew. For a moment, there was silence except his ragged breathing. Then he felt something brush against his ear, and there was a voice. “Will you let me in now?”_

_“Yes, yes.” His ankles were untied and he was rolled onto his back. A pair of hands gently stretched his legs out, working the cramps out. Then his hips were pulled up onto strong thighs and he could feel something nudging at his entrance._

_“Oh, darling, I’m going to set you on fire.” With one sharp thrust, he was filled completely. Taekwoon screamed, thrashing wildly until the hands held him down by his forearms. The overstimulation was too intense; Taekwoon thought he was going to black out any second. And then, like a wildfire overtaking dry brush, his release hit him, spreading all over his body._

Taekwoon woke with a start, painfully hard but alone in his bed. He felt sick to his stomach, thinking of the way he’d dreamed of Ravi. He hated to think how right the demon was about him, how long it had been since he’d been with someone.

He forced himself up in the early morning light and took an icy shower rather than reward what seemed like bad behavior. In the end, he was just angrier than before and cold. He dressed quickly and took his house keys with him, hurrying down the steps that led from his cliff top to the beach below. He stood at the edge of the surf, where the water could just rush around his ankles, the push and pull more soothing than anything he had ever found. In the pink light of the dawn, he stood there, wishing the ocean could wash away everything that had happened. There was a bruise ringing one of his ankles, purple and blue against the rest of his skin.

 _Oh darling, I’m going to set you on fire_. Taekwoon shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. If the incubus was fire, he was dry kindling. One spark, and he could go up.

\--

Taekwoon spent most of the day nosing around the New Age shop in the neighborhood that Jaehwan lived in. It might be a waste of money, but if something could keep Ravi out of his house, he was willing to try it. He hadn’t been able to ask the shopkeeper for help, obviously, so he was sticking with the basics of keeping evil out of his house: a small crucifix, a bottle of holy water, and a sage smudge stick. The woman at the cash register didn’t even blink, just rang him up and handed him the receipt.

The smell of burning sage reminded him of when Hongbin had been going through his stoner phase. It was oddly comforting, if only because he associated it with Hongbin. He started in his bedroom before moving through the rest of the house. The cross and the holy water he left tucked under one of his bed pillows, for use when he was going to sleep.

With the clouds of sage still hanging in the air, he sat down at his piano to play. The melodies that came out under his fingers today were longing, drawn out. They left a bitter taste in his mouth, even as he wrote down the notes on his sheet. He knew where the inspiration was coming from, but music was music. If he could gain something from having a three thousand year old demon hanging around his house, it might as well be music.

He treated himself at dinner, cooking himself a steak and roasting potatoes to go along with it. For dinner he ate one of the chocolate mousses he had bought earlier that week along with some raspberries. Summer had come, and with it, it had brought the sticky, sweet taste of berries on his tongue. With the windows open to let in the warm breeze and a glass of wine in his hands, he felt calm, comfortable. He even managed to lose himself in a book for a while, unconcerned with what would wait for him in his bedroom.

And even when it came time to sleep, he felt safe as he sprinkled holy water around his bed and hung the crucifix above him. So he lay in his bed, feeling like a child surrounded by his stuffed animals, enclosed and safe.

That was, until he heard that dark chuckle, and smelled the smoke.

“Oh darling, you thought you could keep me out with some burned herbs?” Ravi easily swung himself onto the bed, curling up to Taekwoon’s side before the pianist rolled away. “And a crucifix? Really?”

“Supposed to repel evil. Thought it would work.” Taekwoon scooted away from him until he was almost hanging off the bed.

“I’m not evil.”

“You’re a demon of lust! You feed on people and you can force them into having sex with you. What about that doesn’t scream evil?”

“It is not _force_.” Ravi was up on all fours, teeth bared. “I draw up the desires that people deny themselves. They are the ones that choose to act on them. It was the acts of your Jesus and your Christian Church that made us evil, made sex and passion and lust a sin.”

“Then why do you want to woo me, or whatever it is you want?”

For the first time, the incubus hesitated. They sat in silence, just staring at each other, for an uncomfortable amount of time. Finally Ravi settled back, sighed, and admitted, “because of your music.”

“You’ve heard it?”

“I told you, Taekwoon. I could smell you for miles. I didn’t just show up at that bar by chance. I’d been with you for a bit, watching. And I listened.” He took Taekwoon’s hand gently, holding the broad hand up to the light, admiring the long fingers. “These hands make music like I have never heard.”

Taekwoon withdrew his hand, pulling it back close to his body. “Well, you aren’t doing a terribly good job of wooing me.”

“And how should I woo you, Taekwoon, dearest?” When he moved, Taekwoon could really tell what he was. He just moved like sin and sex. “Should I bring candles and roses? Or would you prefer a riding crop and a blindfold?”

“How about letting me sleep?”

“Ahh, but I must stick to tradition. The incubus visits at night.”

“I need to sleep. If you want to hear that music more, I need my rest.” Taekwoon paused. “Can you put dreams in my head?”

Something about the way he asked the question made Ravi smile. “No, that’s not one of my gifts. That’s all you.” Taekwoon flushed red with anger and embarrassment. “Did you dream of me, pretty boy? Was I fucking you the way you wanted?”

“Get out, Ravi.” Taekwoon knew shoving him was useless. “Just go. I want to sleep.”

“I’ll go, if you give me a kiss.”

“Isn’t that forcing me into it?”

“No. More of a little bit of blackmail.” The incubus grinned. “One little kiss, and I’ll let you sleep.”

One kiss couldn’t be that bad, could it? So Taekwoon leaned, hands anxiously falling on Ravi’s shoulders, and pressed his mouth to his. He tried to keep it as chaste as possible, but when a man with three thousand years of experience kissed him back, all bets were off. He kissed like he knew every corner of Taekwoon’s soul, how to make him unravel and how to knit him back together again. When Taekwoon finally broke free, he was breathing hard. The incubus just smiled.

“Good night, pretty boy.” And he disappeared.

Taekwoon took another sleeping pill and put himself to bed, willing himself not to dream of Ravi again. But the subconscious will do what it will. What struck Taekwoon was how vivid the dreams were, how clearly he could hear the incubus’s voice, how intense everything felt. It was too much for a mortal man to stand.

But that mortal man was Jung Taekwoon, the man who had played piano until his fingers bled and his friends had to drag him away. He was stubborn and set in his ways. No matter what he desired, or how pleasant Ravi’s promises sounded, he would not give in.

\--

A summer storm was rolling in over the ocean, the clouds black and threatening. Taekwoon had been late to the hardware store to buy sandbags; thankfully for him, Jaehwan had a few left over from when he had lived in a ground floor apartment.

Taekwoon had just finished propping the sandbag up against his front door when there was a bright flash and a boom of thunder that sounded like it came from just above his head. He nearly fell over, his heart beating a mile a minute. The rain started not long after that, steadily growing into a downpour. Taekwoon made sure his windows and doors were all shut tight, and then sat down at his piano.

As it had been almost every time that he had sat down to play recently, he was thinking about Ravi. The incubus had become a constant feature in his life. Taekwoon would wait for him to come at night to make his advances, and then ask him to leave. The price was always the same: a kiss. But for the last few nights, the kisses had been growing more insistent, more passionate. Taekwoon wasn’t sure if he liked it or not, and he was angry with himself for not knowing.

So he stewed, and let his hands move over the piano. He didn’t pay much attention to what notes he was playing and when, what was sharp and what was flat. He only cared about the sound, the feeling, the growing melody. The tape recorder on top of the piano would record all of it for him to dissect later.

He finished playing and rested his head in his hands, elbows on the piano keys. They made a discordant noise but he didn’t care. He was tired of Ravi showing up. He was tired of having to put himself to sleep with a sleeping pill. And he was very, very tired of the dreams. At least he’d be saving money on his water bill with all those cold showers he’d been taking.

Not that was much comfort to him. The only things that really comforted him now were the sleeping pills. Each tiny, white tablet was a miracle in itself, freeing himself from the conscious world and the tie that Ravi had to his body. If only he could find some way to break the subconscious link and stop the dreams.

The power went out just before five p.m. Taekwoon thanked his lucky stars that he had a gas stove. He found a lighter and lit the burner to heat up some soup Jaehwan had given him along with the sandbags.

 _Are you sleeping well? You look really tired,_ Jaehwan had asked. Taekwoon had wanted to tell him everything, to ask for his help. But the words clogged up his throat, and all he’d been able to do was shake his head.

After dinner, Taekwoon went to lie down in his bed, curling up against the cold. Unfortunately, the heater was run by an electrical system and he couldn’t turn it on. So there he was, balled up like an armadillo under his covers in the middle of the evening, trying to sleep a little while the thunder crashed overhead.

“A little chilly for you, darling?” Taekwoon nearly fell out of bed, he was so surprised to see Ravi sitting across from him.

“What the hell? I thought you said you only came at night.” Taekwoon pulled the blankets tighter around him.

“I do. It’s nighttime now.” Ravi moved and Taekwoon could see the dark shadows that ringed his eyes, the haggard look on his face, the weariness with which he moved.

“Are you sick?” Taekwoon didn’t think demons could get sick. Ravi looked like he did when he had the flu.

“I’m not sick. I’m _hungry_.” It took a moment for him to realize what exactly he meant.

“Well, I’m sure there are plenty of people in this town who would sleep with you. Go eat.” Taekwoon rolled over, hoping that would end the conversation. But Ravi got hold of his shoulder and flipped him onto his back easily.

“I’m not going to find anyone else. I chose _you_.” His eyes were hard with desperation. “Taekwoon, I don’t understand why you won’t. It’s not going to hurt you. It’s going to be everything you’ve ever wanted, because I _know_ everything you’ve ever wanted. It feeds me and relaxes you. What is there to lose?”

“My soul?”

“For the last time, I’m not here for your soul. I just need this.” He gripped Taekwoon’s shoulder a little harder and that hot spike of lust flared up in Taekwoon again, making his back arch. “That fire you feel? That is what I need.”

Taekwoon felt like his brains were melting out of his ears the longer Ravi held him like that. He was thrashing in his grip, moans spilling from his mouth wildly. Finally the incubus released him and he curled in on himself, trying to stabilize his breathing.

“Do you see what I mean, darling? I can make you feel so good. All I need in return is a little energy.”

“Can’t-can’t you just take it like that? Just hold onto me?”

“You’d black out before I got nearly enough.”

Taekwoon wanted to beat his head against the wall until he blacked out. Why was he even considering it? Was it because the incubus looked so sickly? Because he was tired of the dreams? Finally, Taekwoon lifted his eyes to meet Ravi’s and said faintly, “the lube is in the nightstand.”

Ravi swooped down on him and kissed him hard, licking his way into the pianist’s mouth. “Oh, my darling boy, the fun we’re going to have.” The incubus rummaged in the nightstand until he found the bottle of lube, setting it within easy reach. He had started to unbutton the black shirt he was wearing when Taekwoon spoke again.

“And the condom?”

Ravi chuckled. “I don’t carry anything. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll use it.” Taekwoon nodded and he went back to the drawer, finding the little packet and leaving it with the lube. The incubus rolled under the covers with him, easily stripping Taekwoon of the sweatshirt he was wearing. “Oh, it’s a crime for you to cover up.” He ran the tip of his cool tongue up the divot in Taekwoon’s chest, one hand tweaking his nipple as he did. The pianist jerked underneath him, whining through his teeth.

It seemed like Ravi did really know what Taekwoon wanted without him having to ask. He didn’t dilly-dally with his chest, instead moving lower to kiss and bite at the sensitive skin of Taekwoon’s thighs. On one particularly hard bite, Ravi dug his thumb into a blooming bruise and drew Taekwoon’s lust to the surface. Taekwoon was glad he didn’t have neighbors when he screamed.

Ravi kept him in that perpetual ecstasy, close to the edge, just touching it but unable to get there, while he stretched him open. By the time the incubus let go of him to find the condom, Taekwoon was crying and whining.

“Please, please.” Taekwoon panted, reaching for the incubus. Ravi smiled and kissed him, tasting the salt of his tears.

“I promised you.” Ravi slid in slowly, inch by torturous inch, holding Taekwoon down by the hips as he did. The incubus sighed happily when he was fully sheathed, eyes closed and head thrown back. Then, without warning, he pulled almost all the way out and snapped his hips forward, driving home again.

Taekwoon thought he might actually pass out through the whole experience. Everything was too good; Ravi knew exactly where to touch, where to kiss, where to move to make him unravel. He stuffed his hand into his mouth, trying to muffle the moans and whimpers. Ravi pulled it back out and pinned his hands above his head.

Ravi felt it when Taekwoon was about to finish, could smell it on his skin. He leaned down and sank his teeth into the space between the pianist’s shoulder and neck, and Taekwoon wailed and came all over his stomach. Ravi fucked him through it until Taekwoon was squirming.

The incubus sat back on his heels, the aching hunger in his belly gone. He practically glowed. He had almost forgotten Taekwoon until he started to pull out a little too quickly and Taekwoon cried out.

“Sorry, darling.” Ravi murmured, slowing down to ease the overstimulation.

“You don’t cum?” The pianist asked weakly when Ravi peeled the condom off and tossed it into the trashcan.

“Incubi don’t, at least not the way you do.” He kissed him, sweeter than before. “But I enjoyed it, trust me.” He even helped Taekwoon clean himself up before he let himself fall onto the mattress beside him.

“Feeling better?” Taekwoon asked, laying back against the pillows. He felt well and truly fucked out, almost boneless. But he didn’t feel like Ravi had taken anything from him, let alone his soul. That seemed to be a good sign. The incubus looked nearly drunk, a healthy flush in his cheeks.

“Taekwoon…” Ravi’s eyes drifted shut. “Oh, darling, you’re an ocean, and I have so much time to drink it all.”

Taekwoon watched him fall asleep and knew that he would let Ravi drain the ocean inside him.

\--

Taekwoon wasn’t surprised when he woke up alone. The incubus was a creature of the night and with the weak sunlight out his window, Taekwoon didn’t think he’d be terribly comfortable. He sat up with a groan, feeling the strain in his sore muscles. A shower was definitely in order, a very hot one. And then maybe a hot pack. Taekwoon was feeling very old as he creaked his way to his shower, turning the water on full blast.

He stood under it for a full minute, just letting the water run over his head and down his back. He had had sex with an incubus. A demon. And he had enjoyed it. Hell, enjoyed it wasn’t descriptive enough. That had been the best sex he’d ever had.

 _But it was with a demon_ , he reminded himself. Ravi was not a human man; the chill of his body was enough to remind Taekwoon of that. He scrubbed at his hair with aching fingers. They’d been balled up in his sheets for so long they hurt a little. He’d have to wait a little while before he sat down to play.

He wanted more than anything to tell himself he would never sleep with Ravi again, that he would put the whole experience behind him and tell the incubus to leave. But he wouldn’t ask, and he knew Ravi wouldn’t go. They were linked now, blood to blood, and with the consummation of their relationship, he knew the incubus wouldn’t be easy to shake.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. He didn’t feel like he’d lost anything. He’d slept well without taking a sleeping pill for the first time in weeks. He’d had one of the most intense sexual experiences of his life, one completely focused on him, and it was with a man he found attractive, and had chosen him out of everyone.

Taekwoon didn’t want to admit it, but he also didn’t want to see Ravi looking so weak again. The incubus had starved himself waiting for him. Ravi could have easily picked someone up and fed himself off their energy. But he had waited for the pianist. It gave a little glow to his ego.

He dried off, dressed, and made himself a cup of coffee before he noticed the bruises on his wrists. They were purple and blue, wider on one wrist than the other. Taekwoon vividly remembered Ravi holding his wrists above his head. When he crossed his wrists, the bruises matched up. He would have to wear long sleeves when he went to have dinner with Jaehwan and Hongbin that night.

In the meantime, his fingers had stretched out and he was itching to play. He felt the music cresting in his soul like an ocean wave, pulling up high and tight in his chest.

The wooden piano bench did not feel very good on his ass. He had to put a pillow from his couch down before he could sit comfortably, and then adjusted his feet to reach the pedals from the awkward stance. He set the tape recorder to play, and put his hands over the keys. At first, nothing came. Then he closed his eyes, and let his fingers fly.

The black and white notes rang in his ears, each crashing around him as his hands took over. It was frenetic, half-crazed, and he was breathing hard by the time he slammed his hands down on the keys. Stopping the tape recorder, he carried it over to his work table to listen to it back and write the sheet music out. It was hard to track some of the notes and it took several listens through before he was satisfied that he’d transcribed it properly.

He spent the rest of the day transcribing, tracking the patterns of his relationship with Ravi. The first days, full of fear and anxiety. Then a growing discomfort and discordance. And then today, frenzied like the way he’d been fucked the night before. When he had finished the transcriptions, he started scanning them in to send to Sanghyuk, his manager. As each one clicked through and uploaded to his laptop, Taekwoon went to get changed for dinner. He selected a soft gray turtleneck, the sleeves long enough to cover the marks on his wrists and his neck. He ran his fingers through his dark hair, letting it fall whichever way it wanted. When the scans were done, he sent them off to Sanghyuk, took his keys, and left.

Jaehwan had picked out a fashionable sushi restaurant in his district, which meant parking was miserable and he had to leave his car nearly three blocks away. Jaehwan and Hongbin were both at the table by the time he came in, out of breath and a little sweaty. He hated being late for things.

“We were starting to think you weren’t coming.” Hongbin said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“Parking is miserable. I had to park halfway across the district.” Taekwoon dropped into his seat and winced. He hoped neither of them had noticed it.

“I left my car at Jae’s.” Hongbin looked a little smug.

“Respect your elders.” Taekwoon muttered, wishing he could reach out and cuff his younger friend around the head. But it might hurt one of his hands and he didn’t want to.

“You’re looking better today.” Jaehwan commented, turning Taekwoon’s face towards him. “You looked like you were coming down with the flu yesterday.”

“I got a really good night’s rest.” Taekwoon wasn’t technically lying; he did sleep incredibly well after having the life fucked out of him by an incubus. “Plus, I think I’ve actually got a few songs that are worth releasing.”

“Oh, finally.” Hongbin teased. “You don’t ever think anything is worth releasing, even when it’s amazing.”

“I’ve already sent them off to Sanghyuk.” Taekwoon smiled when Jaehwan whistled. “I might even play one of the new songs at that concert he’s got me scheduled for in London.”

“That’s a long flight.” Jaehwan shook his head. “Better you than me.”

“But don’t you want to tour? I mean, you don’t want to play in bars and clubs for the rest of your life.” Hongbin asked.

“I want to tour when I have enough money to go first class like Taekwoon. Taking those long flights in coach is just miserable. Remember that mini-tour that I did for like, almost nothing? That was horrible. So I’ll wait for the money to fly my ass in style.” Jaehwan raised his beer. “To having money for first class.”

“Hear hear.” Hongbin lifted his beer, Taekwoon his glass of water. Soon the conversation devolved to the sushi and the atmosphere, what new office drama had erupted around Hongbin’s office, Jaehwan’s next performance. Taekwoon had just taken a bite of tuna belly when Ravi appeared across the room and he choked on it. Hongbin slammed one broad hand onto his back repeatedly to make him cough it up. Taekwoon saw Ravi disappear through his watering eyes and had to pretend the sushi had almost gone down the wrong pipe. He still kept glancing up every now and then to see if the incubus had reappeared; he hadn’t.

But he was waiting when Taekwoon got home, stretched out on his bed like a big cat, his shirt open to reveal a slice of tanned torso. Taekwoon ignored him at first, taking off his shoes and his watch, the silver ring he wore on his right hand. Then he turned, hands on his denim clad hips and demanded to know why Ravi had followed him.

“Well, I didn’t find you here. I wanted to see where you went.” Ravi acted like it was the most natural thing in the world, but there was an undertone of jealousy.

“Did you think I went on a date?” Taekwoon turned his back to peel off his turtleneck and find something comfortable to sleep in.

“Yes.” It was so soft Taekwoon almost didn’t hear it. “You were with that blond again, I thought maybe he was your boyfriend.”

“Jaehwan. And no, he’s my best friend. Other than Hongbin, the other guy who was with us.”

“Good.” The incubus was behind him suddenly, two arms banded around his waist like iron. He nudged his nose against the purple bruise on Taekwoon’s shoulder, earning a hiss from the pianist. “I don’t share well.”

“I guess not.” Taekwoon whimpered a little when Ravi sucked on the bruise, inflaming the skin a little more. “Is that going to be a regular thing?”

“You’re mine now, darling. It’s a symbiotic relationship. I bring you the pleasure you crave, and you feed me in return.”

“When you say it like that, it makes you seem like less of a demon.”

“I can’t help what I am. It’s how things have been since the very beginning. Sex is a natural part of you, and it’s a natural part of me. We both benefit, we both grow, we both flourish.” He paused, looking at Taekwoon over his shoulder in the mirror. “How is your music?”

Taekwoon flushed red. “Fine.”

“You’ve been writing more, right?” He waited as the pianist nodded. “Artists and incubi have a special relationship. I knew the succubus who was John Keats’s muse, the incubus who stayed with Van Gogh for most of his life.”

Taekwoon rested his hands on top of Ravi’s, rubbing his thumb across the incubus’s hand. “So you plan to stay with me for the rest of my life?”

“Unless my interest in you fades, which I doubt.” He inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of Taekwoon’s skin. “I don’t think I’ll be leaving you.”

Taekwoon wanted to ask about the future, what Ravi would do if Taekwoon got married and had a family. But he was tired, and he didn’t really want to know. So he let the incubus take him to bed, let himself be kissed and fondled and coddled until he was ready to sleep.

“Sleep well my darling,” the incubus murmured, kissing the pianist’s hair. “And dream of me.”

\--

Taekwoon never knew quite when to expect Ravi. Sometimes he would go a week without seeing the incubus, and then he’d suddenly appear while Taekwoon was out with Jaehwan. Other times, he saw Ravi every night for days straight. Those times where Ravi was present every night exhausted him physically, but he had never written so prolifically. Sanghyuk was delighted to see so much material coming through ahead of schedule and had already started making noises about setting up a studio for Taekwoon to record the album properly with a producer.

Tonight was one of those nights where the incubus had been gone for a week. Taekwoon had walked into his bedroom to get something after dinner and Ravi was already there, relaxed on his bed.

“You’re early.” Taekwoon said, blinking in surprise.

“What, I can’t come surprise you?” Ravi sat up, his eyes wide and innocent looking. If it wasn’t for the way the light reflected off of them, he might almost have been convinced that Ravi was human.

“It just caught me off guard, I guess.” It was dark outside; technically that must count as night for the incubus. Taekwoon set his wine glass down on his dresser, excitement already thrumming in his chest. Ravi had ripped him apart and collected all the pieces again. Taekwoon had never thought that being destroyed could be so wonderful. But there he was, waiting for whatever bag of tricks the incubus had that night.

“Finish your wine, Taekwoon.” Ravi relaxed back against the pillows, looking like he belonged there. At some point, Taekwoon had stopped thinking of him as an intruder. Letting go had done wonders for him; he was sleeping well, he was playing well, he had more of an appetite than usual. Sex seemed to be good for him.

So Taekwoon finished his wine, watching the incubus over the rim of the glass as he did. When he set the empty glass down again, the incubus wrapped his arms around his legs and lifted. Taekwoon let out an undignified squawk as he tipped over onto the bed. He bounced once, got the wind knocked out of him, and then his pants were disappearing.

“Next time could you just ask me to lie down?” Taekwoon said, looking down his body at Ravi.

“Maybe.” He grinned cheekily up at the pianist. “Get rid of the shirt.”

“And what about yours?” Taekwoon didn’t like to be naked alone. It made him feel too vulnerable, which he was sure the incubus knew. So Ravi stripped down as well, fitting his body on top of Taekwoon’s.

“What do you want tonight, darling?” Ravi tucked his face against Taekwoon’s neck, inhaling deeply. Taekwoon was always curious about this part; just by smelling him, the incubus could tell what desire or fantasy was at the front of his mind. Ravi pulled away, a small smile on his face. “You are an angel.”

“What makes you say that?”

“That happens to be one of my particular favorites.” A length of silky black rope appeared in Ravi’s hand, and Taekwoon gulped hard. That dream he’d had ages ago. Oh god, he was going to die that night, he was sure of it. Still, he didn’t fight Ravi, didn’t argue for something different, just let his ankles be lashed to his bedposts.

And just like he’d dreamed, it was too much. Ravi seemed to be able to control his orgasm, or at least knew how to delay it. Taekwoon was dancing on the knife’s edge of overstimulation and climax, back bowed and fingers scrabbling to hold on. The blindfold was soaking wet with sweat and tears as Taekwoon wailed and thrashed in Ravi’s grip.

“Had enough, darling?” Ravi whispered in his ear.

“Yes, yes, please.” Taekwoon was pretty sure he would have collapsed by now if it hadn’t been for the ropes. The tension around his ankles loosened and he was turned over onto his back. The ropes wound around his wrists, keeping them above his head. There was movement between his legs, the feeling of Ravi’s legs beneath his, and then Ravi was inside him.

It was always worse when Ravi played with the energy inside him, pulling all of his lust to the surface to drive him crazy but keep him from finishing. Taekwoon screamed until he couldn’t anymore and the screams petered down to pathetic whimpers.

Ravi pulled out, slowly, and then rolled Taekwoon onto his side, lifting one of Taekwoon’s shaking legs to rest on his cool shoulder. The horrible knot in Taekwoon’s stomach eased and a blessed hand slid across his belly, gripping his length and stroking him in time with the slower, easier thrusts. Taekwoon sobbed as he came.

He was dimly aware of movement around him, of a washcloth between his legs and mopping at his stomach, of the ropes being removed and feeling rubbed back into his wrists. It was until the blindfold came off that he realized he was cradled in Ravi’s lap.

“I didn’t break you, did I darling?” The incubus asked with a surprising amount of care in his voice. He was faintly glowing, the way he did when he had just fed.

“Almost.” Taekwoon said weakly. His throat felt dry and raw.

“Let me get you some water.” He bundled Taekwoon in his sheets before drifting off to the kitchen. Ravi stuck around until Taekwoon fell asleep, sometimes just staying to lie next to him, other times bringing him fruit and water from the kitchen. He never put his clothes back on when he did. Taekwoon thanked God once again that he didn’t have neighbors.

Some of the water spilled down Taekwoon’s chest as he gulped it down greedily. He didn’t think anything of it until he felt a tongue lapping at his stomach and chest, and looked down to see Ravi across his lap, looking up at him innocently.

“It really is a crime for you to cover up, darling.” Ravi nuzzled his face against Taekwoon’s toned stomach. Taekwoon just leaned back against his pillows and let him stay down there. He was too exhausted to even think about moving.

Ravi helped him lie down when he had finished the water, always careful with him. Taekwoon rolled onto his side to face the incubus, his white hair catching the moonlight prettily.

“You’re always so careful with me afterwards.” He commented, propping his head up on one hand.

“You’ve just given me what I need to survive, trusted me with your body. Why would I be careless?” He winced. “Except that time that I hadn’t eaten in ages.”

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t just pick someone up.”

“Because I chose you, my darling Taekwoon.” He traced the line of Taekwoon’s profile with one finger. “My Leo. I chose you, and you are the one to feed me.”

“Is it always like this? A…monogamous relationship?”

“Not for all of my kind. Some feed sporadically, picking a target and only visiting them once. Others stay in the same area and rotate partners. And then there are some like me, who prefer to keep one partner for an extended period of time.” He paused as if he was searching for words. “The trust is deeper when it’s only one partner. I feel you more, I know when I’m pushing you too far and when you can take more. And if you trust me, you give more. I don’t need to take as much every time because you trust me. I don’t need to gorge myself if you feed me consistently.”

“Sometimes I feel like you’re a stray cat I picked up.”

“A stray cat wouldn’t have tied you down and blindfolded you and fucked you senseless.”

“It…it got a little rough there.”

“I know. I realized when I had pushed you too far. I’m sorry.”

“We’ll have to work on that.” It occurred to Taekwoon that Ravi didn’t know he was leaving. “I’m going to London for a week soon. I have a few concerts to play there.”

“Are you staying in a hotel?”

“My manager booked a room for me. It should be nice.”

“Then there’s no reason I can’t go with you.”

“Go with me?”

“Well, I won’t be physically on the airplane with you, but I can go with you to London. Keep you company.” He paused. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

“No, it’s not that. I guess I just didn’t think that was something that you could do, travel long distances like that.”

“I’m an incubus. Anything is possible.” He nuzzled his face into Taekwoon’s neck. “And I’ll get to hear you play in a concert hall.”

Something fizzed in Taekwoon’s stomach like champagne when he thought of Ravi watching him play, of Ravi wanting to come to the concerts. “Yeah, I guess you will.”

\--

Taekwoon was early to the bar, settling into a booth with a glass of wine to wait for Jaehwan and Hongbin. In the morning he’d be off to the airport for the flight to London, where he’d get a day of rest and then start his string of concerts. He wouldn’t be gone longer than a week, but Hongbin and Jaehwan liked to send him off like this every time.

Jaehwan was the next to arrive, a stormy look on his face. Taekwoon could feel the ice coming off him in waves as he started on a martini.

“Everything okay, Jae?” Taekwoon asked, watching him warily.

“Not exactly.” He reached forward and grabbed Taekwoon’s wrist before he could pull away, yanking his sleeve up to reveal the rope burns wringing them. “Ropes, Taekwoon? Either you’ve gotten kidnapped recently or you’re seeing someone you haven’t told me about.”

Taekwoon took the moment of surprise to try to come up with something he _could_ say. “I-I…Jae, it’s a little more complicated than just that.”

“What’s complicated about it? I’m your best friend and you’ve been doing ropes and kinky shit with whoever it is and I haven’t even met them.” He looked so hurt that Taekwoon felt his shoulders curl under the weight of it.

“I’ll see what I can do.” That was something he could say, apparently. So he excused himself to the bathroom, slipping into the darkened hallway. He wasn’t sure if it would work, or if he’d just be talking to himself out there.

“Ravi?” He hissed softly into the shadows. “Ravi? Can you hear me?” He was about to give up when the smell of vanilla smoke wound around him. And then there was his solid weight wrapped around Taekwoon’s body, comforting as always.

“You called, darling?” Ravi purred into his ear. “Did you want me right here, in this hallway? Awfully naughty of you.”

“Jaehwan is mad at me because he thinks I’m seeing someone that I haven’t told him about.” Taekwoon turned in his arms, eyes pleading. “Please, I can’t talk about you. I need you to come talk to him, tell him that we’ve been dating or something so he doesn’t hate me.”

“Taekwoon…”

“Please, Ravi? You made it so I couldn’t talk about you.” He tried to look as pleading as he possibly could.

Finally, the incubus sighed. “I never could say no to that little cat mouth of yours.” He kissed Taekwoon lightly on the lips. “Fine. I’ll play the boyfriend for tonight.” He melted away into the shadows and Taekwoon returned to the table, where Jaehwan was staring sullenly into his martini.

“Don’t be mad, Jaehwan.” Taekwoon said softly.

“Why shouldn’t I be mad? We share everything, but you couldn’t tell me about this?” Jaehwan was pouting openly now.

“I had asked him to keep things quiet for a while.” Ravi’s deep voice sounded from somewhere over Taekwoon’s shoulder. Based on Jaehwan’s expression, he must have been shocked at the sight of him. “Ravi. You must be Jaehwan.”

“I am.” Jaehwan shook his hand, still in a daze. Ravi had changed his appearance in the time it had taken him to reappear, dressed in fashionably tight jeans, a loose white shirt, and a black hat perched over his white hair. He looked threateningly good, an array of silver rings on his fingers and tattoos visible under the cuffs of his shirt.

“I’m sorry that this has caused you any upset. I asked Taekwoon not to talk about our relationship for a while, to keep it quiet. I had just gotten out of a bad relationship when we met.” He looked at Taekwoon with a gentle expression, even as Taekwoon saw his eyes reflect green.

“I see.” Jaehwan didn’t seem to like the idea of a bad past, but once Hongbin showed up it quickly turned into an interrogation. Taekwoon couldn’t answer most of the questions and had to direct them to Ravi. He was sure his friends thought he was being abused or something, but he physically couldn’t speak. He drained three glasses of wine before they finally let up and moved on to talking about Taekwoon’s upcoming concerts.

It was odd for Taekwoon to see Ravi like this. He was used to them being alone, to having Ravi focused completely on him. And yeah, his hand was resting on Taekwoon’s knee, but it wasn’t the way it usually was. It occurred to him through the haze of red wine that he was jealous. He liked having someone completely devoted to him, completely focused on his wants and needs.

Jaehwan got up to get another martini; in the flurry of his movement Ravi leaned towards Taekwoon planted a kiss just below the ends of his hair, where the black strands curled towards his chin. Hongbin smiled slightly to himself. It was nice to see Taekwoon happy and with someone who looked at him like that. Ravi looked like Taekwoon was the sun and moon. He hoped they’d last for a long time together.

By the time the group separated, Taekwoon was too drunk to drive. Ravi smoothly lied and told Jaehwan and Hongbin that he would leave his car overnight at the bar and drive Taekwoon home in his. Both of them believed it and got into a cab to go towards their district.

“Thank you, Ravi.” Taekwoon mumbled, eyes half-open as his lolled against the passenger seat.

“Couldn’t exactly let you drive yourself.” Ravi didn’t like cars. They smelled like cold iron and handled about as easily as he imagined a tank would. But in his long life, he’d learned how to drive. He just hoped they didn’t get pulled over.

“No, I meant…for talking to Jae and Bean.”

Ravi stifled a chuckle at the nickname. “I did make it so you couldn’t talk about me.” He had never pretended to be anyone’s boyfriend before. That part had been a little weird. But he’d never had a partner like Taekwoon. He wanted to stay with Taekwoon for a long time and it would be easier if he didn’t wreck his relationships with other people.

“Was nice o’you.” Taekwoon’s head hit the glass with a thunk as he passed out.

“Humans. Can’t hold their wine.” Ravi muttered, following the winding road to the house on the cliff. If he hadn’t been an incubus, it would have been impossible to haul Taekwoon’s dead weight out of the car and all the way into his bedroom. He felt bad about just dumping him on top of the bed and awkwardly peeled him out of his clothes, covering him with the blankets.

He was about to leave when he paused and looked back at Taekwoon. He was an angel, truly. The moonlight lit the strong planes of his face beautifully, the high, rounded cheekbones, the full mouth, the fanning of eyelashes across his cheek.

He knew if he was a proper incubus, he never would have come when Taekwoon had called, would never have brought him home. And if he was a proper incubus, he wouldn’t even be considering staying the night.

But there he was, Ravi the great incubus, he who had lived three thousand years and seduced kings, duchesses, millionaires, paupers, climbing into bed with a beautiful pianist. Until dawn, he could stay and be nothing more than a man. But with the rising of the sun, he would disappear like smoke.

\--

Taekwoon couldn’t say that he was surprised to walk into his hotel room and find Ravi stretched out across the pristine white comforter. Taekwoon set his bags down, kicked off his shoes, and fell onto the bed beside him with a groan.

“Long flight, darling?” Ravi’s fingers tiptoed down the line of his spine.

“Very long.” Taekwoon wasn’t sure what time it was, either where his body was or where his body was used to being. “How did you get here before me?”

“Checked the hotel registry for which room was yours.”

“Oh. Neat.” With effort, Taekwoon rolled himself onto his back. “I need a shower.”

“Would you like some help?” The incubus grinned mischievously.

“After I shower.” Taekwoon surprised both of them by leaning over and kissing Ravi on the mouth. He sped off to the shower before either of them could really think about it.

Ten minutes later, Taekwoon emerged with a towel wrapped around his waist, his damp hair slicked back from his face. Ravi was standing by the massive window, looking out at the city. He could see Taekwoon moving around in the reflection, digging in his bag for something and going over to the mirror. Taekwoon winced when the earring didn’t go straight back in and he had to force it through. In the mirror, he peeked at Ravi, the long line of him.

“Are you going to stare or are you going to come over here?” Ravi asked, not turning from the window. Taekwoon jumped guiltily, but still came over to him. Ravi turned, pressing his back against the cool window and looked deep into Taekwoon’s cat-like eyes, inhaled the clean scent of him, tinged with the smell of his lust. “I want you to fuck me.”

Taekwoon blinked in surprise. “What?”

“I want you, to fuck me.” Ravi drummed his fingernails on the glass behind him. “Up against this.”

“Where people can see?”

“It’s part of the fun.” Ravi ran his hands over Taekwoon’s shoulders, down the curve of his biceps.

“All right.” Taekwoon wasn’t really sure about the whole public thing, but he had yet to turn down anything Ravi had offered him. He still went and turned off one lamp, leaving them slightly less exposed. Ravi had already stripped himself down by the time he came back. Without preamble, he sank to his knees and wrenched the towel off, throwing it off to one side.

Taekwoon had been on the receiving end of blowjobs before, but it was entirely different to have an incubus doing it. Ravi was quick and fierce, not caring about the mess of saliva collecting on his chin. He looked up at Taekwoon, nose touching his belly, and batted his eyelashes coquettishly. In between blinks, Ravi dug his fingernails into Taekwoon’s thighs and drew up his lust.

Taekwoon grunted and gripped Ravi’s head, but kept himself from thrusting in. The incubus popped off with a messy sucking sound, breathing heavily. “Come on, Taekwoon. I can take it. I know you want to.” Then he ducked his head and bit the soft, sensitive flesh in the crease between Taekwoon’s hip and the biggest muscle of his thigh. Taekwoon groaned, his hips bucking forward. “There we go, darling.” Ravi sucked him down again, letting his jaw go slack.

Taekwoon knew what he was being offered, and took it. He gripped Ravi’s head tightly in his hands and started to rock forward, gently at first because he was afraid of hurting Ravi. Then he remembered that he was an incubus and let go. When Ravi finally pulled away, his lips were red and swollen, saliva dripping down his chin.

“I knew you had it in you.” Ravi smiled, getting to his feet and wiping his face off on the back of his arm. “Lube?”

“It’s in my bag.” It was hard to hurry with a raging erection, let alone bend over and get something from his suitcase, but he managed it. Ravi took it from him, dripped it all over his fingers, and immediately jammed three fingers up into himself. Taekwoon yelped in surprise; the incubus laughed.

“What did you think I did while I waited for you?” He withdrew his fingers and handed the lube back. “How do you want me?”

Taekwoon considered it for a moment. Having Ravi face away from him didn’t feel terribly romantic, even though it wasn’t really romance they were going for. Plus he didn’t want to try to hold him up. So he turned Ravi back to face the window and bent him slightly. It had been a while since he’d topped and at first he wasn’t pressing hard enough to breach. Then Ravi wiggled back on him and gave him a hand and he slid in.

God, why hadn’t he been topping more? It was amazing to be enveloped like this. For a moment he couldn’t move, just stayed still and enjoyed the feeling.  Ravi looked back at him over his shoulder and saw Taekwoon’s closed eyes, the look of ecstasy on his face.

“I won’t be as rough with you, you know that right?” Taekwoon asked, as if he could feel Ravi’s gaze on him. “I don’t have it in me.”

“You give me what you want to give me. That’s always been the deal, darling.” Ravi turned his head back, bracing his hands against the glass. “And you can have me whatever way you want.”

“All right.” Taekwoon steadied himself and set a comfortable pace, nowhere near the tortuously slow or brutally fast paces that Ravi fucked him at. This was easier, gentler. At least, until he started to lose his tight control over himself as he got closer to his release. Ravi wasn’t making it any easier on him, throwing it back onto him and _moaning_ in the most pornographic way possible. By the time Taekwoon finished his legs were shaking from pounding into Ravi so hard.

He peeled the condom off himself, making a face and throwing it into the trashcan. Then he collapsed on his back on the bed. Ravi, still standing by the window, just laughed.

“Oh darling, did I wear you out?” Ravi crawled onto the bed with him, watching the way Taekwoon’s chest rose and fell.

“Just a little.” Taekwoon yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. “Jet lag.” He just giggled when Ravi swatted at him. “And topping, okay, I’ll admit that contributed.” He lifted his head slightly, looking at the incubus. “Do you feed every time we have sex?”

“I take a little every time. I don’t need to gorge myself.”

“Because you have a steady food supply.” Taekwoon didn’t really like to think of himself as food, or as a steady, sure thing for Ravi to fuck.

“I guess you could put it that way. Don’t you like it?”

“I do. I just…when I think about it too hard it starts to feel a little gross to me. That you use me for food.”

“You can tell me no whenever you want, Taekwoon.”

“But you wouldn’t leave if I did.” It wasn’t a question, and Ravi couldn’t have answered it even if it was. “So I guess I am a steady food supply.”

“Taekwoon-” Ravi couldn’t pretend it didn’t hurt when Taekwoon flinched away from him.

“I need to sleep.” The pianist rolled under the blankets, his back to the incubus. Ravi stared at the broad expanse of his bare shoulders for a moment, trying to think of a way to make this better, but came up empty.

“Good night Taekwoon.” He whispered, before disappearing into smoke.

\--

The smoke that curled up from the cigarette was pungent and he knew it would cling damply to his clothes when he went back inside, but that didn’t stop Ravi from smoking it. He had bummed it off of someone outside the concert hall to kill time before he went inside. He knew Taekwoon would look for him; he knew his hair would stick out. Maybe it would be better if he just didn’t make an appearance. At least then Taekwoon could do his concert without him being there.

But would it be worse if he didn’t go? If Taekwoon looked out into the crowd and didn’t see him there? He’d really think Ravi was just using him for food if he couldn’t see him. He really was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.

He had just flicked the cigarette butt away from him when he felt it, the way he instinctively gritted his teeth, the way his lips had pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. He spun, already crouching to spring.

Hakyeon laughed, a sound that didn’t sound human or happy. “What, so defensive when you see me, Ravi?”

“What do you want, Hakyeon?” Ravi hissed.

The other incubus settled his unsettling yellow-green eyes on Ravi, and tutted. “You spend too much time with the humans. How long has it been since anyone saw your true face?”

“Long enough.”

Hakyeon drummed his long, black nails against the brick wall. “There’s someone in there who smells absolutely _delicious_. So much energy, just ripe for the taking. Enough for a year.”

“He’s _mine_.” Ravi bared his teeth and he felt them sharpen into points.

“Whoever gets him first, that’s the rule.”

“I’ve already had his blood, and he mine.”

Hakyeon cocked his head to one side. “You feed off him exclusively?”

“Yes. Now get off my block, Hakyeon.”

“Oh, that’s doubtful.” Hakyeon smirked and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ravi didn’t think twice before dissolving himself and finding Taekwoon. His pianist was sitting in his dressing room, fiddling with the cuffs of his blue suit. Taekwoon had never liked to perform in a coat and tails; he vastly preferred his cobalt colored suit and black button down. It was more comfortable to perform in and more visually striking. He let out a yelp when smoke coalesced behind him and Ravi appeared.

“Jesus, do you think you could use a door like a normal person?” Taekwoon said, holding his chest with one hand.

“I would have, if I had the time.” Ravi realized Taekwoon was staring at his mouth and covered his teeth with his hand. “There’s another incubus here.”

“Great, do you travel in packs?”

“No. He smelled you too.”

“I thought letting you feed off me was supposed to take care of that?”

“Unless I was gorging myself every time, I don’t think I could have diminished everything that’s inside of you. I need you to be careful if I’m not with you.”

“Well what does he look like?”

“We can change our appearance. The only thing that doesn’t change is this.” He tugged at a tuft of white hair. “We all have light hair. His is silver.”

“So I’ll be on the lookout for a silver haired dude who wants to fuck me. Noted.” Taekwoon turned back to the vanity he was sitting at, fiddling with his rings.

“Taekwoon-” The door swung open before he could say anything, and a dark haired stranger entered the room.

“Tae, you ready?” The man caught sight of Ravi. “How did you get in here?”

“I used the door.” Ravi said drily, thankful his teeth had returned to their normal appearance.

“He was just leaving, Sanghyuk.” Taekwoon muttered. “Is it stage time yet?”

“About five minutes. Anything last minute you need?” Sanghyuk glanced curiously at the white haired man who was staring at Taekwoon like he wanted to drill holes in the back of his head with his eyes.

“Nope. I’ll be out in five. Ravi, weren’t you just leaving too?” Taekwoon’s tone was too pointed to ignore. So Ravi followed Sanghyuk out and took a spot in the middle of the concert hall where he could keep an eye out for Hakyeon. He could still sense him somewhere around, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was corporeal.

It was difficult to keep his mind on the threat while Taekwoon was playing. He’d heard him play on the birdcage piano at his home, of course, but this was different. This was a grand piano, in a concert hall with excellent acoustics. And Taekwoon was in fine form. Ravi couldn’t take his eyes off him.

There was a long pause while Taekwoon moved his sheet music around and he seemed to be trying to make up his mind up about something. Finally, he reshuffled the sheets and began to play. Ravi felt the music tug in his gut, at the place where Taekwoon filled him and fed him and where he was starting to feel emotions he wasn’t supposed to. The piece was about him, he could feel it. And it drove him crazy to hear it.

It drove him crazier when Taekwoon clung close to Sanghyuk and the army of reporters who had come for the performance. He couldn’t get to him before Taekwoon was hustled out of the London drizzle and into a rented car with his manager. Ravi was still standing on the sidewalk, slowly getting wet with the rain, when the clawed hand shot out and pulled him out.

Ravi found himself standing on the other side of the veil with Hakyeon, who had a wicked grin on his face. “I enjoyed the show quite a bit. He’s a beautiful one, isn’t he? And so soft and sweet, I could smell it all over him. I bet he cries when you fuck him.”

“Back off, Hakyeon.” Ravi warned, advancing towards him.

“Mind your elders, Ravi.” Hakyeon’s eyes glowed with yellow-green light. “You forget who we are, and what we are made for.”

“I know exactly who I am, and I know the rules. I marked him, he’s mine. So find your dinner somewhere else.”

“I can take him if I want.” Hakyeon traced one long fingernail down Ravi’s cheek. “Or don’t you remember, little darkling? Do you remember what you were a thousand years ago?”

“I remember.” Ravi said from between gritted teeth.

“I don’t think you do.” Hakyeon plunged his nails into the meat of Ravi’s upper arm, sending sparks of pain flying through the limb. Ravi went down to his knees, the nails still buried in his flesh. The older incubus tilted his chin up on the end of one clawed nail. “I think you should relive that for a bit, little darkling.”

Ravi howled like an animal, curling over himself painfully. Hakyeon disappeared, leaving him there on his knees. And when he rose up, he was nearly unrecognizable. His white hair was wild, spiky tufts of it falling in his yellow-green eyes that glowed unnaturally. Tattoos ran up and down his arms, across his chest, up the side of his neck. His teeth were pointed, his nails long and black and sharp. A tail curved around one of his legs, the end reptilian and pointed. Ravi took a breath and felt the aching hunger rumble through him. And he smelled Taekwoon, the energy that lay within him just within reach. And he wanted to tear him apart, to feast on his flesh and that sweet, sweet body.

\--

Taekwoon was in his room undressing for bed and checking his email when he smelled smoke. “Ravi, buzz off. I’m not in the mood.”

“Well that’s good, because I’m not Ravi.” Taekwoon whirled around to see the man sitting elegantly on the edge of his bed. His eyes were an odd color of green, considering he looked Korean, with his high cheekbones and tan skin. But that shock of silver hair gave him away.

“You’re an incubus.”

“Ahh, I see Ravi told you about me.” The man smiled, slow and predatory. “My name is Hakyeon. And you are Jung Taekwoon, the famed pianist. You’re quite good, you know.”

“I’m aware.” Taekwoon said through numb lips. He hoped that any minute now Ravi would poof in and get rid of this guy. Hakyeon looked like the incubi that he and Jaehwan had learned about, the kind that killed their victims after using them up.

“Don’t be afraid of me, Taekwoon.” If it weren’t for the way he was looking at him like a particularly juicy steak, maybe Taekwoon wouldn’t have been afraid of him. “You’re so beautiful, I just want to be with you, to taste you.”

“I don’t want to.” Taekwoon could feel himself backing toward the corner, even though Hakyeon hadn’t moved from the bed. He hoped his blood connection with Ravi would kick in and he’d come save his ass. Oh God, literally save his ass, Hakyeon was probably going to fuck him.

“Taekwoon, beautiful.” Hakyeon moved off the bed with the grace of a dancer, flowing towards Taekwoon. “I know what you want. I can smell it all over you. You want someone to desire you so badly they can’t think straight. You crave devotion, you crave adoration. And you want someone to fuck you like they can’t control themselves. I can give you everything you want.”

“I’ve heard this speech before. I didn’t like it all that much that time either.”

“And yet you were sleeping with Ravi. Seems like you found something you liked in it.”

“I liked Ravi.” Taekwoon didn’t realize that was the truth of it until he said it. He had sex with Ravi because he had feelings for him.

“You like him because of what he is, not because of who he is. If I was with you, you’d like me too.” He leaned a little closer. “He’s in your blood, Taekwoon, what did you expect?”

Taekwoon’s heart plummeted into his stomach. “So it’s just…it’s just because he’s an incubus?”

“Incubi form attachments with their prey. It’s that little extra bit that tips you in our favor.” Hakyeon reached out gently, touching Taekwoon’s face with the backs of his fingers. “I can see why Ravi is so attached to you, though. You’re beautiful, and soft, and you _want_ so much I can hardly stand to be in the same room with you. I wanted to take you on top of that piano in front of everyone.”

Against his better judgement, Taekwoon was kind of turned on by that. “Where’s Ravi?”

“Oh, I gave my darkling a little present. I’m sure he’ll be busy for a while.”

Taekwoon’s imagination ran wild. Ravi, with someone else. What other kind of present would an incubus give? “I…I need a minute to think. Can you?” He motioned for Hakyeon to back up. He complied, sitting in the armchair this time. Taekwoon stayed where he was, holding his head in his hands as he tried to think. If Hakyeon was telling him the truth, Taekwoon only felt the way he did about Ravi because he was an incubus. Sleeping with Hakyeon would be just like hooking up with someone, except much, much better because of what he could do to Taekwoon’s body.

“In this light, you look like an angel.” Hakyeon said, examining the way the light was playing off the planes of Taekwoon’s face. He positively glowed.

“Not helping, Hakyeon.” Taekwoon sighed. “I’m going to be in London for the next week. Not tonight, but maybe tomorrow?” He needed the time to think or he’d lose his mind.

“May I ask a favor?” Hakyeon stood up, the lean lines of him unfolding.

“Let me guess. A kiss?”

“I just want to see if those lips feel as lovely as they look.”

Taekwoon was really, seriously tired of incubi. “Fine. Just don’t take any of my blood.” Hakyeon smiled in triumph, pulling Taekwoon into his arms. Taekwoon hadn’t expected it to be a simple kiss, and that wasn’t what he got either. Hakyeon kissed to consume. When he finally let Taekwoon go, the pianist was swaying on his feet.

“Good night, angel.” Hakyeon winked, and vanished.

Taekwoon took a shower to clear his head, which didn’t help. Then he opened the window to let a little fresh air in, and climbed into bed. He hoped the post-show exhaustion would help knock him out. Last night he’d relied on the jet lag to make up for Ravi’s absence.

He managed to fall into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning with the thoughts of the incubi in his head. What was it that made him so desirable? The fact that he hadn’t been interested in sex when he was younger and he had a lot of sexual energy to burn off? That seemed like a simplistic explanation. But there was nothing else extraordinary about him, unless incubi really liked music. Both Hakyeon and Ravi had seemed enamored with his piano playing. Maybe they were into the music. Whatever it was, he wished he could get rid of them both.

When Taekwoon felt the weight land on his chest, he definitely wished they would get away from him. He opened his eyes to see glowing yellow-green eyes looking at him, and the moonlight reflected off a pair of very sharp, very pointed white teeth. When that mouth full of teeth kissed him, Taekwoon tasted blood on his tongue. He managed to reach the lamp and turn it on, and he nearly screamed when he saw what was on top of him.

It wasn’t Hakyeon, as he had expected. It was Ravi, looking completely altered. His eyes were wild, his mouth stained with blood. A reptilian tail was lying heavily across Taekwoon’s legs, long nails piercing the thin material of his shirt.

“Ravi?” Taekwoon whispered, unable to believe that his Ravi could look like this. The incubus didn’t answer, just gripped his chin painfully and kissed him. That hot spike of all consuming lust flooded over him; Taekwoon’s fear remained as one crystalline point of clarity as to what was happening as Ravi ripped the covers back and yanked Taekwoon’s legs up towards his shoulders. Even as his hand worked over Taekwoon’s erection, Taekwoon struggled helplessly against him. “Ravi, stop it!”

“Don’t you want me?” His voice didn’t even sound right, reptilian and horrifying. He was as cold as a corpse as his fingers dipped into Taekwoon’s cleft. His legs kicked out uselessly.

“Ravi, please!” The note of terror in his voice seemed to click through his head, if only for a moment. “Please, don’t do this to me! I don’t want this!”

And just like that, his eyes faded from yellow-green to their familiar dark brown. Ravi flung himself backwards off the bed, disappearing out of view. Taekwoon carefully peered over the edge to see Ravi rolling around on the floor, hands covering his face. “Ravi? Are you all right?”

“Stay back!” He howled, sounding slightly more like himself. Taekwoon watched in the half-light as the tail disappeared, and the tattoos faded into his skin. When Ravi stopped writhing around on the floor, he looked like he always had, with the exception of the blood on his face.

Taekwoon stayed on the edge of the bed, wrapped in the quilt, watching Ravi’s chest heaving as he came back from whatever transformation he’d undergone. Taekwoon was afraid to even breathe.

“I’m going to kill him.” Ravi muttered, finally moving to get to his feet.

“Kill who?” Taekwoon didn’t want to know where the blood had come from.

“Hakyeon.” Ravi spit the name like venom. “He forced me to revert and then came after you. I can smell him all over this room.”

“He forced you to revert?”

“That nightmare creature that you saw? That’s my true form, the form I’ve existed in for three thousand years. I’m a monster, Taekwoon. I just hide mine a little better than Hakyeon.” He wiped absently at his face as if just realizing he was bloody. “He made me revert back to it, when I was still young, still a darkling, and I couldn’t control myself.”

“What did you do?”

“I think I ate somebody.” Ravi stared at the smear on his hand. “I didn’t kill them, but they’re definitely injured. Probably the…” he gestured at his mouth. The teeth.

“And when you came back here?”

“I came to feed. I was a creature of habit, even then.” Ravi covered his face with his hands again, his shoulders shaking. “Oh my God, what I almost did to you.”

“Ravi, it wasn’t you.” Taekwoon reached out and Ravi shied away from him.

“No, that was me. It just wasn’t the me you’re used to. I could have raped you, Taekwoon! And I wouldn’t have known any better if you hadn’t cried out.”

“But you didn’t, because I stopped you.”

“That’s not good enough. I could have hurt you.” Ravi pulled his hands away and there were inky smears on his face. Taekwoon guessed incubi didn’t cry salty tears like humans. “I laid my hands on you in a way I shouldn’t have. And Hakyeon almost took you from me.”

Taekwoon felt a sudden rush of shame. He had believed the worst of Ravi from the mouth of a stranger who had everything to gain from Taekwoon’s distrust. “I sent him away.”

“For how long, Taekwoon?”

“I told him I needed to think.”

“At the very least, I’m glad I didn’t come back like that and find you with him. That would have turned bloody very quickly.”

“Ravi, please, sit down before you fall down.” Taekwoon had hoped he’d sit on the bed. Instead, he moved across the room to sit on the floor in the corner.

“I’m a monster, Taekwoon.” He whispered. “I could have killed you.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Don’t defend me! I am an incubus. That monster is me, even if I hide it under a veneer of humanity.” A sob tore out of him. “I could have killed you and it would have been my nature. I don’t deserve your pity or your comfort.”

“Ravi-”

“I’ll stay and keep watch from the other side, make sure that Hakyeon doesn’t come back.”

“Ravi!” Finally, he stopped and looked at Taekwoon. “I need you to tell me the truth, right now. Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

Taekwoon took a deep breath. “Hakyeon said that I feel the way I do about you because I drank your blood. Is that true?”

Ravi stopped, considered it for a moment. “That’s not entirely true. I mean, it can play a role, but typically it doesn’t make a deeper connection.”

“Then I need you to stay with me.”

“Taekwoon, I can’t, it’s-”

“I love you.”

That got Ravi to shut up very quickly, and he just stared at Taekwoon like he was insane. “You love me?”

“I do. And I may be a little freaked out right now, but I know you didn’t do that to me on purpose. You might be that creature behind the veil, but you’re mine on this side. I don’t want you to leave me tonight.”

More inky droplets leaked from Ravi’s eyes. “Taekwoon, my darling, I-” He shook his head, giving up on that sentence. “I don’t think it’s possible for incubi to love, but I think I feel about as close as I can to that about you.”

“Then stay with me.”

Ravi didn’t argue this time. He wiped his face clean of the tears and blood and climbed into bed with Taekwoon. The pianist was still freaked out about the whole ordeal, even though he considered it to be a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of situation, but he didn’t want Ravi to be alone, and he certainly didn’t want to be alone.

Even though they were barely touching, it was close enough for both of them. And when Ravi left with the sunrise, he left a kiss on Taekwoon’s forehead. He may not have been capable of love, but if there was such a thing for incubi, he felt it for Taekwoon.

\--

Ravi kept a careful watch for the rest of Taekwoon’s time in London. He’d be happy when Taekwoon went back to his house on the cliffs and left the city behind. There were too many places for Hakyeon to be lurking, too many shadows for him to be hiding in.

In the end, it wasn’t in the shadows that Ravi saw Hakyeon again. The older incubus walked right up to him and sat next to him in the concert hall where Taekwoon was doing his final performance.

“How did you like your present, little darkling?” Hakyeon asked conversationally as the lights began to dim. Ravi snarled, grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket, and dragged him from the main hall. It was easy to throw him through the veil when they were out of sight. Hakyeon was already back on his feet when Ravi followed him to the wasteland.

“I could have killed him!” Ravi roared, advancing on Hakyeon as his nails lengthened.

“You need to remember who you are, Ravi.” Hakyeon caught Ravi in his arms, holding him still. “You are my darkling. My protégé, my shining achievement.” He leaned down, licking  a long stripe up Ravi’s neck. “Does Taekwoon know that you learned everything from me? How to touch, how to tease, how to fuck?”

Ravi shoved him away. “Stop calling me that. I haven’t been yours for thousands of years.”

“It’s a bloodline. You’ll always be mine. And you’re going to hurt that human whether I make you feel your true self or not. He’s mortal, fragile. And you feed on him.”

“He is not your concern. I should rip your head from your shoulders for trying to touch him.”

“But you won’t.”

“Try me, Hakyeon.” Ravi dove at him, and landed face first in the dry earth. Hakyeon was gone, too far for Ravi to follow.

Ravi returned to his seat, shaken, but glad that Hakyeon had left them behind. Taekwoon played beautifully again, and this time Sanghyuk didn’t carefully monitor him all the way through the reporters and getting back to the hotel.

Ravi was waiting for Taekwoon when he came in, sleepy and aching. The cold London air had seeped into his very bones and made them ache. He needed a hot bath.

“You played beautifully, Taekwoon.” Ravi said, watching the yawning pianist gather his toiletries together.

“Thanks.” He gave him a sleepy smile before heading for the bathroom. Ravi took his usual place in the armchair to wait for him. For the past few nights, Ravi had refused to sleep in the bed with Taekwoon, preferring to keep watch over him from the armchair. He didn’t quite trust himself yet, not with the beautiful mortal who loved him.

Taekwoon stumbled out a while later, warm and soft and sleepy, curling up under the covers immediately. By now he knew better than to ask Ravi to sleep next to him. Instead he mumbled, “I love you,” and went right to sleep.

 _He’s mortal, fragile._ Hakyeon’s words echoed in his head. Taekwoon could snap under his hands if he wasn’t careful. Ravi spent the night in agony, watching Taekwoon sleep peacefully, his broad shape under the covers a mocking reminder of what he could have but was refusing himself.

With the dawn, Ravi left, and Taekwoon awoke to get on his plane home.

\--

It had been two weeks since Taekwoon had seen Ravi, and he was starting to get worried. The incubus was never gone this long; he had to be getting hungry by now. The pianist waited until the sun had slipped below the horizon and stood in his bedroom, hoping the incubus could hear him again.

“Ravi? Can you hear me?” He felt like an idiot just talking to the air. “Ravi?” Minutes passed, and he didn’t appear. Taekwoon huffed and went to his piano to play.

It wasn’t until after midnight that Ravi appeared. Taekwoon hadn’t been able to sleep and so he was awake to see the weary, haggard shape move to sit on the edge of his bed.

“Ravi, you need to eat.” Taekwoon reached out for him and the incubus let him pull him close.

“I’m fine, darling.” Ravi murmured, even as his sunken eyes fluttered closed.

“No, you’re not. You’re starving yourself.”

“I won’t hurt you.”

“You aren’t going to.” Taekwoon carded his fingers through his white hair. “Let me take care of you.”

If Ravi had had a human heart, or at least their conception of the heart and love, it would have broken. He knew what had to be done. So he gave Taekwoon what he wanted. He kissed him gently, he worked him open with careful fingers. Taekwoon was taking control for the most part, making up for Ravi’s physical exhaustion. He settled his thick thighs on either side of Ravi’s narrow hips and sank down, moaning softly as he felt Ravi move inside him.

He was doing most of the work, Ravi’s hands just gripping his hips. At least, he thought so, until one of Ravi’s palms seemed to heat up and lust exploded over every inch of his skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. Taekwoon yelled out and sped his hips up, as if it would kill him if he didn’t engulf Ravi completely with every movement of hips.

A sweet smell flooded Ravi’s senses, the smell of Taekwoon and sex and passion and even the love that Taekwoon held for him. He knew it was the signal of Taekwoon’s release. He knew what he had to do. Ravi reached in deep, to where he could feel that blossoming, burning energy like a second pulse, and ripped it out.

Taekwoon screamed, came all over Ravi’s stomach and chest, and collapsed on top of him. Ravi held his shaking body close, holding back the flow of inky tears by biting into his cheek. Taekwoon rolled off him eventually, still twitching every now and then. Ravi cleaned him up reverently, tossing the washcloth aside when he was done, and traced the lines of Taekwoon’s body as he came back.

“Holy _shit_.” Taekwoon murmured weakly. “That was intense.”

“I know it was, darling.” Ravi kissed his cheeks, his nose, his little cat mouth, mapping his face out with his lips. “I took everything.”

“You took everything?”

Ravi nodded, feeling the sparks of energy crackling over his skin. “Everything you had, everything that attracts my kind to you. I took it.” He could feel the flush that had come into his cheeks, knew his eyes were probably yellow-green. Gorging himself always felt like this.

“But then how will you eat?”

“I won’t need to. What you had was enough to feed me for a long time.”

Realization seemed to flicker across Taekwoon’s face. “Are you leaving me?”

“Oh, my sweet angel Taekwoon.” Ravi ducked his head as if it could hide the black tears. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“Then why did you take it all from me?”

“Because I have to leave you. You deserve someone who can walk with you in the sunlight, who has a life outside of the night. You deserve better than me.” Ravi sniffled, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “You’ll be safe now. You won’t draw my kind the way you did.”

“Ravi, please.” Now Taekwoon was crying, and Ravi didn’t think he could handle that. “Don’t leave me, please. I love you.”

“You love something that never lived, Taekwoon. I’m a dead creature, a darkling. I am a creature of a wasteland that needs to feed off the sexual energy of the living to survive. I am _disgusting_ compared to you. You, my sweet, beautiful boy, are a creature of the daylight. Don’t throw yourself away on me.”

“Don’t I get any say in this?” It was obvious Taekwoon was struggling to stay conscious; Ravi had taken a lot out of him.

“I can’t let you.” Ravi kissed him one final time, cool lips pressed against Taekwoon’s warm ones. “Be safe, and be loved, my darling.” He faded into smoke, and Taekwoon passed out.

\--

“Taekwoon!” Jaehwan waved him over. Hongbin and Jaehwan were sitting with a dark haired stranger at their usual table. “Glad you could make it.”

“Glad to be out of the studio for once, Sanghyuk did everything but chain my leg to the piano.” Taekwoon knew that Hongbin and Jaehwan both knew that was a lie. Sanghyuk wanted Taekwoon to go home and rest, not stay in the studio all day. But he preferred being at the studio over being at his house on the cliffs, where the echoes of Ravi still existed. His friends thought it had been a nasty breakup and that was why Taekwoon refused to talk about him. But Taekwoon still had Ravi’s blood in him; he couldn’t speak of him, and it was better that way. His heart was still healing. He didn’t think he could handle discussing the way his relationship had imploded.

“I’ll come to the studio with a hacksaw next time.” Hongbin teased, sliding over so Taekwoon could sit down. The pianist settled on the cool leather, questioning eyes on the unknown man.

“Oh, Tae, this is Yixing. He’s one of my other musician friends.” Jaehwan poked Yixing in the side. “Xing, this is Taekwoon, the pianist I was telling you about.”

“Jaehwan speaks very highly of you.” Yixing had a soft voice, and even softer eyes.

“Thank you. He doesn’t usually compliment anyone but himself.” Taekwoon smiled when Yixing grinned, revealing a small dimple in his cheek, and ducked his head. “So what do you play?”

“He plays just about everything.” Jaehwan broke in.

“Jae, let the man talk.” Hongbin scolded. But it didn’t matter; the damage was already done. Yixing was already peeking shyly at Taekwoon through his bangs, and Taekwoon was already thinking how handsome he was. His bruised heart flipped a little when he saw that dimple again.

Taekwoon caught a whiff of vanilla smoke, so faint he was sure he was imagining it. Then he heard the softest whisper. _He’s beautiful, Taekwoon. Love him._ Taekwoon clenched his fists and forced himself to hold back the tears. It wouldn’t do to burst out crying over the table.

So he leaned over the table, and asked Yixing another question about himself. Ravi had left him so he would live his life in the daylight. Yixing could be the first step back into the daylight. There was too much life to be lived to let his heart die over one man.

 


End file.
